Currently there are devices that capture range information for a scene. One example of such a device is a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device. LIDAR devices are sometimes referred to in the art as laser detection and ranging (LADAR) devices, although both acronyms refer to the same device. A LIDAR captures range information for a scene by emitting a flash of coherent light and measuring the amount of time it takes the coherent light to travel from the LIDAR to objects within the field of view of the LIDAR and back to the LIDAR. This is known as a flash LIDAR. Another type of LIDAR is a scanning LIDAR where a single beam of light is scanned across a scene. In either case, the LIDAR returns packets of timing information which may then be compiled into a matrix (referred to herein as a range matrix). Each data point of the range matrix corresponds to the amount of time taken by the coherent light to bounce off of an object located at that data point. The range matrix produced from the output of the LIDAR is a 2-dimensional map of the range information received.
Many devices also exist that capture optical information for a scene. One of the most common examples of a device that captures optical information is a traditional camera. Cameras capture optical information in the form of a 2-dimensional map of the optical information received at the camera from within the field of view of the camera. For example, a visual spectrum optical camera captures and records light within the visual spectrum that reflects off of objects within the field of view of the camera.
Visual spectrum optical cameras have been used to create stereo vision systems in an attempt to better replicate the human vision experience of viewing the world from two perspectives (a left and a right eye). Images or videos created in this manner are sometimes referred to as 3-dimensional (3D) images or videos. These 3D optical images are based on taking two 2D optical images of a single scene from two different perspectives. One optical image is taken from a perspective of a left eye and the other image is taken from a perspective of a right eye. A typical 3D camera consists of two lenses which are spaced apart at approximately the distance of a human's eyes. The 3D camera takes two 2D images simultaneously, one with the left lens and one with the right lens.
Special techniques are used to display the two images on a single screen and to give the viewer the impression that the left eye is viewing one image and the right eye is viewing the other image. For example, one method of viewing the two images requires the viewer to wear glasses having one red colored lens and one blue colored lens. Then the left eye image is shown in blue simultaneous with right eye image which is shown in red. With the glasses on, the viewer's left eye picks up on the left blue images and the viewer's right eye picks up on the right red images. The viewer's brain then puts them together to create the real life 3D effect. This effect can be used in either a still photograph or a video setting.
Another method of viewing 3D images is similar except that instead of red and blue images for the left and right eye, polarized images are used. Here, the left images are polarized in one direction and the right images are polarized at a 90 degree angle from the left images. The user then wears glasses with a left lens matching the polarization of the left image and a right lens matching the polarization of the right image.
A third method for viewing 3D videos involves alternating the left and right images from the camera on the viewing screen. Here, the viewer's brain forms the alternating images into a 3D image.